Jessica Pare

"I feel very fortunate, but I am not surprised. The show has a lot of really great fans who like talking about it. But it's certainly shocking to see my picture everywhere, and I guess that it started to feel a little overwhelming. But I love this show and being a part of it."

If Jessica Paré -- Hollywood’s newly-minted “It Girl” -- is experiencing deja vu, it’s because the striking Montreal-born actress has been here before. After breaking out on the big screen 10 years ago in Canadian auteur Denys Arcand’s Stardom, followed by her Hollywood debut in Wicker Park, Paré was a consensus actress-to-watch. It wasn’t a case of if she made it, but when.

Flash forward 10 years, and Jessica Paré’s most widely seen role since her banner year was as a booby-flashing groupie in the raunch-com Hot Tub Time Machine. Once Canada’s most promising export, Jessica Paré was now showing her breasts on screen for a paycheck. Then she landed a role as a secretary on AMC’s wildly popular Mad Men, was proposed to by Don Draper in the season four finale, and everything changed. Now back on top of the Hollywood heap, the suddenly in-demand actress has one more shot at the big time, and if her appearance in the first episode of Mad Men's season 5 is any indication, she's making it count.

SEX APPEAL

When Don Draper told his alluring secretary Megan that he loved her on the season four finale of Mad Men, she stared back at him with her large, soft eyes, flashed her trademark smile, and suddenly he wasn’t the only one infatuated with the classic beauty. Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner knew it would take a special actress to convince audiences that the notorious lothario Don Draper would commit to another woman, especially after the ugly corruption of his first marriage. Turns out that girl was Jessica Paré, who, in our opinion, just stole Christina Hendricks’ crown as the hottest woman on Mad Men.

SUCCESS

Jessica Paré was only 18 when she landed the lead role in Denys Arcand’s Stardom, a film whose title many believed foreshadowed Paré’s future in show business. But after a string of forgettable performances in a catalog of mediocre films, Paré’s star seemed to be fading almost as quickly as it had risen. After nearly a decade of searching for her breakout role, Pare came back with a vengeance in 2009, starring in the vampire comedy Suck, followed by a small but memorable role in the sleeper hit Hot Tub Time Machine. But it wasn’t until Matthew Weiner cast Paré as Don Draper’s new love interest in the fourth season of AMC’s iconic series Mad Men that the Canadian actress finally got the break she’d been working toward her entire career. After accepting Don Draper’s surprise proposal in the season finale, Pare’s character went from bit player to major cog in the blink of an eye, ensuring her ubiquity in the next season and beyond.

Jessica Pare Biography

If you’ve never been to Montreal, you should rectify that immediately. Why? Because every girl there looks like Jessica Paré. OK, that might be a bit hyperbolic, but Paré does embody that classic native Montreal beauty that makes the city the most European in all of North America.

Paré grew up in the Montreal neighborhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grace to parents who were both actors. Paré used to watch her father rehearse and would even help him with his lines. It wasn’t long before she caught the acting bug herself and began starring in plays at Villa Maria, the private Catholic girls' high school she attended in Montreal. The bilingual actress went on to study drama at TheatreWorks before landing a bit part in the made-for-TV movie Bonanno: A Godfather's Story. Her small success convinced Paré to drop out of high school in order to pursue an acting career full time.

jessica paré sits at the cusp of stardom

Perhaps the only thing harder than making it as an actress in Hollywood is making it as an actress in Canada. With a film industry that doesn’t revolve around a star system, most Canadian actresses are often interchangeable. That’s why, when the stunning young ingenue Jessica Paré was cast in the lead of Denys Arcand’s Stardom (she originally auditioned for a bit part), the Canadian press salivated over the possible emergence of a true Canadian leading lady. Although the film starring Paré as a hockey player-turned-supermodel had the honor of closing the 2000 edition of Cannes and opening the Toronto International Film Festival, it was received tepidly by critics. Still, Paré’s status as the Canadian “It Girl” was solidified, as every entertainment magazine from Halifax to Vancouver felt compelled to name her Canada’s next big thing.

jessica paré’s career fizzles

Jessica Paré spent the next few years, on the cusp of stardom, starring alongside Piper Perabo in Lost and Delirious, while earning smaller roles in films like Bollywood/Hollywood and Wicker Park, opposite Josh Hartnett. Paré also appeared in a variety of television projects including Random Passage, Lives of the Saints and Jack and Bobby. But the breakthrough that many anticipated, including Paré herself, never happened. Instead, Paré spent the majority of her 20s living in relative anonymity in Los Angeles, looking for a way to revive her career and save her marriage to writer Joe Smith.

jessica paré calls it a comeback

2009 was a turning point in Jessica Paré's career. Although her marriage was in tatters, her career began to pick up steam, first with a lead role in the vampire comedy Suck, then with a smaller role in the Jay Baruchel-starring film The Trotsky. Both films played at the Toronto International Film Festival that year, and Paré suddenly found herself in demand again, even earning a 2010 Canadian Comedy Award for best female performance in a film. Paré's new-found funny bone led her to a role in Hot Tub Time Machine, the highest profile film of her career. Although her part was small, she became the most memorable part of the film when she exposed her chest to Craig Robinson in a hot tub. It's an image we still can't, nor want to shake. Ever.

jessica paré stars in mad men

When Jessica Paré landed the coveted role as the new secretary on AMC’s cultural juggernaut Mad Men, she wasn’t sure how big a role her character would play. No one was, except the show’s creator Matthew Weiner, who auditioned the actress three times before casting her. After watching the season four finale -- in which Don Draper suddenly proposed to his new love interest -- Weiner’s diligence finally made sense, as Paré’s character figures to be an integral part of the Mad Men universe in season five and perhaps beyond.

Suddenly one of the most talked-about young actresses in the business, Jessica Paré’s career has new life. Shortly after the finale, she was at the top of Google trends and every major news outlet was requesting interviews with the overnight sensation. Paré herself is trying to stay humble amidst all the insanity, but after a decade’s worth of struggling, the sudden success must feel like sweet vindication for the talented actress.

Jessica Paré proved to be one of the best things about Mad Men's Season 5. With Season 6 on the horizon she'll soon be a household name along the same lines as Christina Hendricks, that is if she isn't there already.